Official: Hervé Renard appointed as Côte d’Ivoire manager

The FIFCI (Côte d’Ivoire’s governing football body) have announced the appointment of former Zambia boss Hervé Renard as national team manager, via their official website and Twitter account.

Renard’s last job was a season-long stint at Ligue 1 side FC Sochaux, which ended in relegation.

The 45-year old has 15 years of managerial experience, and previously managed Zambia (twice) and Angola on an international level, as well as USM Alger, Sochaux, and several lower tier clubs.

His playing career was mostly unremarkable, and the highlight of his time as a footballer was playing alongside a young Zinedine Zidane at AS Cannes in the late eighties.

It is worth noting that the Frenchman’s two spells at Zambia were very successful; his first stint with the Southern Africans resulted in a rare quarter-final berth at the 2008 African Cup of Nations.

His second term, however, was much more prolific; at the 2012 AFCON, Renard led Zambia to their first-ever tournament win, after a dramatic victory in the final over his new employers.

Renard was preferred to Frédéric Antonetti and former Al Ahly boss Manuel José, with the Frenchman signing a two-year contract with Les Éléphants following the departure of Sabri Lamouchi.

Côte d’Ivoire and Renard will kick off their 2015 AFCON qualifying campaign against one of Sierra Leone and Seychelles, with Sierra Leone being the favourite among the two teams to face the Elephants in just over a month.